Examining and explaining some of the intriguing details of this masterpiece. Does it make any sense?
painting
One of the world’s greatest paintings, this remains controversial 500 years after it was painted.
Did he just paint fashionable women in fashionable clothing, or was there more to this hugely successful artist?
Telling the complex story of how manna saved the Israelites, and starring the master of narrative painting, Poussin.
Who is the woman martyr being crucified? How do the two wings relate to her story? There’s no shortage of mysteries here.
She succeeded at the highest level in mythology, religious works, and portraiture, and paved the way for other women artists.
Her paintings became sought after, and her themes highly innovative. But a stomach ulcer brought her life to a sudden end.
A brilliant painter who brought wide tonal range and colour to Bologna, and started training many young women.
A close-in view shows Christ and a dozen other figures, but the cross itself is projected unusually.
Tales of grisly executions, and failed experiments in updating storytelling in paintings.
The Eclectic Light Company 